Import and export
The diagram stays the source. What comes in is an equipment list or a project file; what goes out is the sheet and the documents it generates, in the formats a spreadsheet, a printer or a drawing tool can open.
What comes in
Nothing requires an account. Each format below is read in the browser, and a file you import never leaves your machine unless you save the project to a server account afterwards.
| Format | What it carries | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment list, CSV | One line per device with a quantity, a brand, a model and a description. Columns are found by their heading, in English or in French, in any order; the separator (comma, semicolon or tab) is detected. Models found in the library arrive with their sockets; the others are placed as custom devices. Up to 300 lines per file. | The empty canvas, and the Import menu |
| Project file, .technipatch | The whole diagram as JSON: devices, cables, zones, notes, pinned labels, sheet settings. It reopens as it was, minus the undo history. Files saved under the earlier .novaplan extension still open. | Import and Export menus |
| Share link | The project, compressed into the address fragment, up to 12000 characters: the server never receives it. It opens read-only, with no account at the far end. A larger project goes through the project file or a saved project instead. | The Share button |
| Saved project link | With an account, a short link that always opens the latest revision. It is the link printed as a QR code in the title block, and it opens in the field viewer, which installs on a phone and stays readable without a network. | Save, then Share |
What goes out
Every export is computed from the diagram at the moment you ask for it, by the same functions that fill the documents panel on screen.
| Format | What it carries | Where |
|---|---|---|
| The sheet from A5 to A0, portrait or landscape, followed by the cable list as printed pages, numbered on the real total. | Export menu | |
| SVG | The sheet alone, as vectors, for a drawing tool or a layout. | Export menu |
| PNG | The sheet alone, rasterised at 200 dpi, for a slide or a message. | Export menu |
| CSV, one per document | The cable list, the patch sheet of every device, the DMX addressing, and the equipment list in three files: devices, cables to prepare, adapters. Semicolon-separated with a byte order mark, so that Excel in a French locale opens them as they are; cells that a spreadsheet would read as a formula are neutralised. | Export menu |
| Rack elevation | One rack per zone, drawn to the U, bottom to top, with the free U visible, as PDF or SVG. Only when at least one device carries a rack height. | Export menu |
| Project file, .technipatch | The whole diagram as JSON: devices, cables, zones, notes, pinned labels, sheet settings. It reopens as it was, minus the undo history. Files saved under the earlier .novaplan extension still open. | Import and Export menus |
| Share link | The project, compressed into the address fragment, up to 12000 characters: the server never receives it. It opens read-only, with no account at the far end. A larger project goes through the project file or a saved project instead. | The Share button |
What is not there
No DWG or DXF, no console or desk file formats, and no API. These were set aside for the first version: Technipatch draws the system, it does not replace the CAD plan of the venue or the show file of the desk.
Related pages
The canvas is already open
Drop five devices, pull cables between their ports: the cable list, the patch sheet and the equipment list fill themselves in while you draw. No account, no card.